farro salad with broccoli and red cabbage

key creation

this is my favorite cold salad of the summer. i've prepared it midweek for co-worker lunches, hollywood bowl concerts and summer friday picnics. farro (similar to barley, but better) has a lovely, chewy, satisfying texture that makes me think that i could live a happy life as a vegetarian. 

BUT let's not get crazy. 

ingredients:

• 1 cup farro, cooked and cooled

• 3 cups red cabbage, thinly sliced

• 2 cups broccoli

• 1 fresh ear of corn, husked

• 4 scallions, finely chopped

• 1/3 cup basil leaves, loosely chopped

dressing:

• 2 tbsp wasabi mayo 

• 1/2 tsp white miso

• 4 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

• 1 tsp rice vinegar

• 1 tsp honey

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• s/p (salt and pepper)

• 1 jalapeno, seeds removed, finely diced

1. boil farro for 20 mins or until desired tenderness. add salt to water midway through cooking. 

2. cut broccoli into bite sized florets and blanch. set aside.

3. boil ear of corn for about 5 mins, remove from boiling water. allow to cool before carefully removing kernels with knife. set aside. 

4. in large bowl combine cabbage, broccoli, corn, scallions and basil. 

5. in smaller bowl whisk last eight ingredients for dressing until well combined.

6. lightly toss dressing in larger bowl with veggies. 

7. chill salad for about 30 mins and then enjoy.

farro is mostly a whole grain and it's best to add salt or acids later in the cooking process so it doesn't slow the softening of the grain. 

blanching is an easy technique used to keep vegetables crisp and tender. boil vegetables briefly then chill them in ice water. this preserves texture, color and flavor.

shopping notes:

farro can be a little tricky to locate. in los angeles you can find at surfas in culver city. look for it  in the refrigerator section. 

wasabi mayo and white miso can be purchased at any specialty japanese market such as mitsuwa. surfas also carries many specialty items.

http://www.mitsuwa.com/tenpo/sant/eaccess.html